The Army of Black and White 2
by Dumpling Dragon
Summary: One year after the events in the Emei Mountains, Po's world is about to end. He doesn't know that the upcoming war will end his happy life forever. One day, Deshi the wolf visits the Jade Palace to deliver tragic news to the Dragon Warrior... Po's and Shifu's promises get broken.
1. Chapter 1

**(A.N.) For this story, you'll skin me alive, but it's not my fault how this tale ends. :( Better don't read it. I can put this tale only into two genres, but if I could describe it better, I'd write: crime, tragedy, fantasy/supernatural, dark, drama, adventure. Don't ask why. I also should give it the rating M, but maybe later... I publish it because it's like getting a fix to me. It's not a promise that I'll finish it like I finished Rag Doll. If I could finish this story, it would be much more complicated than the Army I. But I don't have enough time in my life now. I can't write all the time anymore, so forgive me if I abandon this story one day.**

**But well, YOLO! xD**

**I don't own any of KFP characters or locations. I own only the OCs.**

* * *

**_Prologue_**

_One year earlier..._

The room was dark and cold. Master Zhú lay down in her bed, shivering with cold. She couldn't even cover her body with the blanket properly, for every move of her arms and legs was causing unbelievable pain in her muscles and dizziness. The panda was still in her wet flax linen clothes and the long green robe, for she had refused to use her dark uniform in the battle. She didn't know if her clothes were more wet because of the rain pouring outside or her own sweat. It had been only a few hours since the battle and she and some of the pandas had just returned to the academy. Zhú wanted to howl with fever and that horrible headache.. she couldn't keep warm. She must have caught something from the wolves... But was it possible to get such sick within a few hours? Soon, she felt tears running down her face and she coughed with effort. It was so painful to her lungs.

Someone knocked on the door and a young panda servant entered the room shyly. "Master Zhú?..."

Hearing Lihua's voice, the older panda opened her eyes slowly and saw warm light coming from the burning candle the girl was carrying. She put a big cup of hot, black tea with raspberry juice on the night table. It was heartbreaking to her to see the kung fu master's suffering. Lihua put her paw on Zhú's arm and asked quietly. "How are you f-"

"Get out of here!" The other female shouted, realising something suddenly. She got up in one second, and to the servant's shock, the older virgin grabbed her by the arm and dragged her towards the door.

"But Master-"

"It may be contagious!" Lihua heard before Zhú pushed her out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Zhú almost fainted after throwing the girl out of there. She leaned against the door and caught her breath. Her gaze landed on the things lying on her table. Feeling that she would not live to see the next dawn, she made two steps towards the table, but before she realised what was about to happen.. she collapsed on the floor and started convulsing violently.

_Wh-what's going on?.._

Lying with her face on the floor, and shaking for a good moment, Zhú could barely understand what was happening. The panda's heart filled with fright when she realised that she was losing control over her own body. How would it end? Her teeth clenched and she started to cry again when after a while, the seizure... slowly ceased.

Still confused, she lifted her face off the floor, taking deeper breaths and though she was surprised that she was still alive, she managed to crawl up to the table and sat down heavily at the desk. Her hand shoved aside the metal war fan engraved with peacock feathers, still stained with Grand Master Shifu's blood, two pieces of paper full of Shan's plans and ideas written down on them a moment before Heron's death, and one of the peacock's long train feathers with a big, hypnotizing blue-green 'eye'. As the main teacher, worried about the students' and the academy's future, Zhú took a blank piece of paper out of the drawer, a small jar of ink and some old quill pen.

_Master,_

_I'm sorry, I'm dying_

The panda wrote in the dim light from the candle standing on the night table on the other side of the room. She pondered on something for a moment, staring at the characters she had written.

_I lo_

She stopped for a moment, feeling sharp pain in her heart. _He doesn't need you._ She heard her own voice in her head when she remembered that her master's son was now probably dying in the palace. She could imagine the hell he was now going through, when he was looking at his only son's death again after just a few days of their reunion. She knew that agony.

What she wanted to tell him was the least significant thing now.

The panda tore up her letter and dragged herself to the bed, leaving the shreds on the table top. She lay down and rolled herself onto her back. Covering her body with the blanket was something very difficult, but she managed to do that. She took a few breaths with effort, staring at the ceiling, and remembered the tea on the night table. She didn't have any strength left to drink it. And she should have taken the wet clothes off first. It was too late now.

She knew that her body was cooling down. That when her students found her, she would be already dead.

She closed her eyes, hoping that it would end soon and death would take the pain away.

A slight smile appeared on her lips when she thought that she had helped her master when he had needed her.

And so Zhú fell asleep... happy that she had managed to free him as he had done it for her years earlier.

She fell asleep... not remembering that in the same room, the artifacts taken from Shan's camp were resting on the table.

* * *

She survived... but nothing was like before.

One day, after the Dragon Warrior and his family's leaving, she heard some pandas' talk in one of the rooms in the academy. They had noticed that her behavior had changed since the night when she was so sick. They had noticed her strange smile... Her penetrating look...

She had never been a warm person, but since the battle... something had changed in her totally.

"Maybe she needs a doctor?" Lihua's voice sounded behind the wooden door.

"What doctor? She's not sick anymore." Rong, one of the teachers, a very big, strong panda wondered.

"Not a doctor for body, but a doctor who could heal her soul." The girl thought of her words for a moment. "Does anyone like that even exist?"

"Listen, I'm not a telltale... " Other teacher, brown-eyed Yao spoke quietly. "...but I think Master Heng should know.. I'm just worried about her. Maybe she's healthy, but still... don't you feel something strange in her presence?"

The door swooshed open and they immediately turned to the entrance and stiffened in fright as Master Zhú entered the room. They recognized that she wasn't in a good mood, considering her dark look. She was holding something in her hands. The folded war fan, the peacock's feather and Shan's plans - three trophies tied together with a raw string.

"No need to worry." She spoke calmly in the complete silence, for they were too scared to say anything. "I feel quite good."

They were confused. They had taken the weapons found in the camp, but wasn't she supposed to destroy the bird's things?

Suddenly, the artifacts fell out of her hands and hit the floor heavily with a loud thud.

"Could you please pick it up?" Zhú said to Rong, for he was standing closest to her.

Not thinking too much, the male obediently leaned down... He didn't know that she was forcing him to bow and touch the artifacts. When he was straightening up, he suddenly felt much weaker than before. He blinked and shook his head slightly, then he met her gaze, and when she was piercing his yellow-blue eyes with her scary look, he almost felt a leash tightening around his neck.

"I need more students." She stated, taking the things and smiled strangely.

* * *

**(A.N.) Uh.. wanna more?...**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own any of KFP characters or locations. I own only the OCs.**

* * *

After another sleepless night, Po's father woke up a bit later than usually. He knew that it was because of that strange feeling he hadn't been able to get rid of lately. As if something was wrong... As if the perfect balance he had built in the Hideout and in the school had disappeared somehow. Sometimes he tried to make believe that the anxiety he felt was only his imagination, for he didn't have any reason to think that something bad was actually happening.

He assumed that the others had got up earlier since he didn't hear any voice or noise coming from the rooms on the upper floor. He got up lazily and after putting on his clothes and the green robe, he splashed his face with fresh, cold water from a bowl standing on his table. _If I was trying to feel worse, I've done it._ He thought to himself with ironical satisfaction. Then he leaned on his hands on the edge of the table and burst out laughing.

_You're getting old, Heng._

* * *

He entered the kitchen and heard laughter coming from behind the wall; the kids were outside. He saw that the students had eaten breakfast already, of course no one had thought of cleaning up the plates. He saw a portion of food with a salad of bamboo sprouts and fruits left for him. He knew; it was Ming's idea and Deshi's realisation. Not only the meals prepared by his youngest student were sometimes difficult to _understand_, but there were days when the older panda thought that the wolf would be a great poisoner. Anyway, he was going to eat that breakfast... later.

Finally, he left the house and stood in front of the building. The panda's gaze swept the village and the green terraces as he was lost in thought. There weren't too many inhabitants in the valley since Zhú had decided that the pandas needed some serious training after the events from before a year. She had persuaded their oldest students and many other pandas to move to the academy for some months. Even if they weren't interested in it. He asked himself how it was possible that he had allowed her to make such decisions all by herself.

"Good morning, Master." That quiet, soft voice came from the direction of the bench. Ming, who was dressed in a blue dress, was sitting there, sending him a calm, heartwarming smile. Chen and Tai Lung were sparring not far away from them, talking at the same time with Deshi, who was sitting on the grass nearby. Although they had tried many times to find some new clothes for him, no color suited him as well as black, so the wolf was dressed in black, as always.

The kung fu master returned the girl's smile and sat down beside her. In a few weeks, maybe days, Ming and Chen would leave the Tea Palace for good. He would miss them. They were like his own children to him.

"I always ask myself, where do they get so much energy?" He spoke, looking at the boys sparring tirelessly.

Ming laughed, hearing his remark; "Chen is trying to remember as much as he can. Tai Lung's trying not to admit that he already misses him." She explained, looking at her friends with a wide smile.

"Maybe I'm an egoist but I hate changes." The older panda confessed. The girl suddenly turned her face to the master and eyed him with her deep blue eyes shining in the sunlight. "Forgive me, I didn't want to hurt you." The master added immediately, realising what he had just said. "I'm just getting sentimental with age."

"Who taught me that changes were the most constant part of our life?"

He saddened and sighed quietly, getting even more lost in thought than before, so she took him by the hand. "Master, we have a wonderful life thanks to you. And it's not like we're leaving the Hideout. The village is small, you can visit us every day. Anytime you want. Even in the middle of the night." She added playfully.

The panda master chuckled when he imagined Chen opening the door to his new house to him at night and his angry, sleepy look. "I'm afraid that soon you will not have much time to host me even if I pay you a short visit in the middle of the day."

She embraced the big bear warmly and realised that she knew well how Po felt, what it was like to have two fathers. She loved her master and trusted him as much as she trusted her real dad. "It's not the end of the world." she said, trying not to burst in tears completely. No matter what they wanted to believe in, changes _were_ painful.

"Master Heng. Good morning." Someone surprised them and the Grand Master looked at the source of the voice, breaking the embrace. Chen, Tai Lung and Deshi stopped for a moment whatever they were doing and greeted their master when they realised that he was there.

Master Zhú was standing there, dressed in her austere flax linen clothes and her light green robe embroidered with bamboo leaves in the lower part. Her strange smile and powerful gaze almost made her master feel tired again. "Good morning.." He said, albeit he was still surprised by her sudden appearance at such an early hour. "I thought you had much work with all those people living in the school now..."

"Oh, they don't need their mommy all the time." She commented a bit jokingly. "I'm going for a walk around the mountains and I just thought that maybe.. _you_ would like to keep me company?" Zhú asked, smiling somehow unpleasantly. "It would be an honor, Master." She added when he didn't look too eager.

"Why not... I was going to go for a walk before breakfast too."

* * *

"Have you ever thought of leaving the Hideout... forever?" The brown-green-eyed woman asked, still smiling a bit excitedly when they were walking up some narrow path leading to the higher parts of the mountains around the village, among juicy green grass and low trees.

"Leaving our home..." Master Heng spoke meditatively and pondered over the topic. "We have everything we need, we are safe here, so what for?"

"I've always been sure that you would be a great emperor." She stated as if she wasn't listening to him at all.

He was baffled by the confession and he wondered what to say for a long moment.

"You're lucky that nobody can hear you here." He said finally, still walking up the path, which had become more stony as they were higher. "In the outer world, someone could think that you're planning how to kill the Emperor and punish you for treason."

"What if I'm serious?" Zhú asked suddenly, stopping and looking at the male expectantly. "You have everything what leaders need: charisma, intelligence, vast knowledge and compassion.. people love you. And your son... he's the Dragon Warrior as far as I remember. You two weren't chosen without reason."

The panda master eyed her suspiciously and turned his face, continuing to walk up the path. "Anyway, I'd say that it's a bad idea. Ruling a small village is one thing, running a whole huge country is something entirely different. You're right, the older pandas chose me in the beginning to build the Hideout... but I've always felt strange telling others how they should live... because nobody gave me such a right. Real rulers wage wars against one another. I would be forced to do the same to save China. If someone attacked us, I would have to send my people to their deaths to save their families, but wouldn't that be a real spiral of death?"

_Well... that's what I thought._ She saw that he was walking away and she quickly took him by the hand and turned him towards some other path leading deeper and higher into the mountains. He was so stunned by her action that he didn't even react. "I don't think so, I'd call it a _sacrifice_." She said lightly... or rather insolently.

"Sacrifices are bad for your heart."

Zhú chuckled at his golden thought and something better came to her mind. "There is one thing you could do for us, the inhabitants of your Hideout. Something what would be far more wise than just staying here and waiting for another unexpected attack."

"What do you mean?" Master Heng asked disoriented and looked around as he noticed that they were very high. "What are we doing here?"

She stopped on a wide plain by a steep mountain wall and they could see the vast green spot of the village and the rice terraces far in the valley from above the chasm between some lower slopes below. She wasn't smiling anymore. "I'm just trying to say that sooner or later, someone _will_ attack our sacred sanctuary. And we could prepare ourselves now, before it's too late."

He looked at her unbelievingly, he was worried that something was wrong with her mind. "Zhú, what are you talking about? It's over, the peacocks are dead. Their army is broken, the rest of their soldiers is imprisoned in Chorh-Gom forever. Nobody will attack us."

"Nothing's over!" She snapped suddenly, sending a wave of shock through his whole body. "It's just the matter of time when another Shen, Shan or whatever they are called attack us with their packs of wolves for this or that reason! _That_ last visit was unexpected, too!" The student shouted at him. "A good ruler would cleanse his country of those who could threaten _his_ people while they are still in the minority! WE should create a _real army_, rise up against the Emperor and punish the other wolves and those birds for what they did to our species! They still haven't paid for their brothers' deeds against us. There still hasn't been any genocide against them. So where is that Perfect Balance you think you teach us?"

He stared at her shocked by her outburst, and no words came to his mind in the beginning. _Whoa..._ She had never talked to him like that, never. And he felt very disappointed with her attitude, but something... made him really worry. _Cleanse his country?.._

She tried to calm herself down and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Don't you understand?" She explained. "We could rule this country together with your son. We could kill or banish our natural enemies from China _forever_. We're strong and clever enough, we _can_ achieve that!"

"No, we can't. But even if we could, I would never do that." The master sighed finally and placed his hands on his student's shoulders. "Zhú, I love you like a sister... but the things you're saying... they are horrific. Nobody should ever punish anyone for someone else's deeds. I would never accept an idea of collective responsibility." He said calmly, though she was looking at him with increasing anger. "You seriously need vacation. Return to your home in the village for some weeks and rest well." He said and turned to the path to walk away and go to the valley.

"I'm losing my patience with you, Heng."

He stopped when he heard that. "What did you say?.." The older panda asked, turning to the student.

"You're not deaf."

"I don't like your behavior, Zhú." The panda stated. He had a really bad feeling about that situation and although her aggressive attitude towards him was something rather surprising, he would never suspect that it was only the beginning. "It looks like you've forgotten that you should show at least a bit of respect to your master."

Master Zhú nodded her head thoughtfully, making a step towards the other panda. "Respect?..." She repeated, looking him in the eyes like she had never done it before.

Suddenly, her hand cut the air fast like a lightning, hitting the older master in the face. He staggered backwards and leaned against the nearest wall, shocked by the force of the slap. He touched his lips and saw blood shining on his paw. When he looked at her, she was coldly self-possessed.

"What the hell was that for?!"

"That's my respect... for lying to me for over twenty years!" The younger warrior replied. "You are not my master anymore."


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own any of KFP characters or locations. I own only the OCs.**

* * *

"Because of you we don't rule this country although we deserve to be the _master race_! Because of you we've been hiding in these mountains _for years_ like rats, while those damned birds and their dirty dogs live outside, enjoying their lives and freedom!" Zhú accused, looking at the panda master as if she was going to burn him with her glare.

"I don't force anyone to stay here!"

"You didn't tell me that we were the strongest of all races."

"And what would you do with such knowledge?" He asked, wiping the blood off his face in anger, genuinely surprised that she knew about the secret Lao had been trying to tell him about once, but eventually, never did it.

She shook her head and smiled ominously when he actually confirmed her surmises. "You know what I _will_ do." She didn't finish although he had looked at her scandalized. "I will find every wolf male, female and their cubs, every single peacock and peahen and every peachick in China. And I'll drown them in their own blood like they once did that to us."

Master Heng looked at her shocked, not because he believed that she actually could do what she was talking about, but because of the ideas she believed in. He couldn't understand what had happened to that one of his most trusted friends. "You're going to kill some innocent birds and wolves for what those soldiers did to you and your family?"

"Yes. And I'm giving you a choice." The female warrior stated. "You can either support me, or die."

"You're sick..." The older master said, still trying to stop the bleeding and looking at her unbelievingly.

Her smile suddenly disappeared. "I may be sick... but you're not better than me. If someone here wants to live in an unfruitful relationship you allow that, although you know that we're dying out. Because of your cowardice, you allowed even your own son to waste his life with that _red panda_!"

"That's none of your business! When I met my son, he was already an adult. I have no right to manage his life now!"

"...and you don't have any other children besides Po."

"As far as I know, you don't have any children, too."

She grabbed him by the robe on his chest when her patience died completely. "Guess why." She demanded looking him in the eyes and his heart stopped when he saw in her gaze something he hadn't been aware of before. "You don't know? You really don't know?.."

He stared at her and he wasn't sure if he was more shocked by what had already happened that day, by that death threat and her rejection or if he was more sorry for her after her veiled confession. He had never suspected anything. Because Zhú had never done or said anything... or he was just a poor observer, or...

"You're right..." She said with suffering in her voice. "Sacrifices are bad for your heart."

Heng suddenly woke up from his confusion and got her paws off himself.

"You still haven't made your choice. Will you back me up?" She asked unyieldingly.

"No. I will not tolerate such behavior or such ideas." He gave her a simple answer. "And I won't let you spoil your students' souls. Take your things and get out of the academy." The master said relentlessly and started walking away from there, leaving the other warrior looking at him darkly.

Not letting him out of her sight, she took her favourite short, broad, V-shaped dagger out of the folds of her clothes and swung the blade at his back.

His hand caught hers when the older master turned unexpectedly. She wasn't very surprised, though. In the next second, he pressed her to the nearest wall and hit her paw against the stone, leaving a bloody mark on the surface of the wall when her claws got broken, and the dagger fell on the ground. She closed her eyes and leaned her face against the wall when she felt horrible pain in her right paw.

"How could you fall so low to try to kill me in such a dishonorable way?" He asked angry and heartbroken at the same time and realised that he had no idea what to do with her now.

"Honor.. is a very overvalued virtue." She answered and pushed him away with her back.

* * *

"Where are they?..." Tai Lung asked, chewing a bamboo leaf when the students were getting bored, sitting before the palace and waiting for their master. Chen had sat on the bench and Ming had leaned against him, stroking her belly, which had been lately a little bit more round than usually, while Deshi and Tai were lying on the grass and staring at the clouds. That day was very warm and pleasant.

"Maybe they've gone to the school?" The wolf suggested unsurely.

"Without telling us?" Tai, the oldest one of them asked unconvinced. "Master would at least tell us what to do or give us a day off."

"Maybe they're meditating together again?" Ming tried to guess.

Chen chuckled really amusedly. "Master Heng meditating before breakfast? It can't be!"

"...or.. something happened?" The girl continued. Chen embraced her from behind and kissed her on the forehead. He had taken some wild pleasure in pampering her lately.

"Mhhh.. don't say that."

"Do you think that he's angry with us for leaving the dirty dishes on the table?" Deshi suddenly asked and they felt stupid, unsure looks appear on their faces.

"OK, I could believe that." Chen stated, sounding a bit guilty.

"Like children..." Tai said, shaking his head in dissatisfaction. "Let's clean up before he returns." He stood up lazily and made his way towards the main door. "Not you, Ming!" He said when he saw the girl stand up.

"Hey, I'm not handicapped." She replied scandalized. "I'll help you... but only a bit." She added grinning at him.

The boys got up too and went inside.

* * *

Master Heng couldn't recognize his oldest friend, the most reliable and cool-headed woman he had ever known in the person of that furious panda, who was now standing in her fighting stance, for she had run amok for no reason actually. But in his heart, he was worried about her and shocked by what she was going to do. "Stop it, Zhú. I don't want to hurt you more." He warned calmly, getting very slowly into his fighting stance, but it only made the situation worse.

He felt anger emanating from her before she suddenly charged at him and he could only try to defend himself from the rain of her hits and kicks and he immediately understood that she wasn't going to stop herself from anything. She was strong, as every giant panda, but he had managed to forget that she was the fastest warrior in the village and that he had taught her everything he himself could. But now... although she had managed to hit him in the face a few times, he couldn't just fight back as if she were some ordinary foe. Blocking her painful blows, the older master wondered why she wasn't trying to paralyse him with some nerve attack until he understood that she couldn't use her left hand as precisely as the right one... and the claws in her right paw were already injured.

She had to use all her might, and breathing was difficult to her, but she managed to push him on the edge of the cliff. When he realised that he was going to fall, he 'woke up' and although his heart was breaking, he took advantage of that she was exhausted and when she reached out her arms to push him into the chasm, he delivered a few hits to her chest with his claws, but before he finished the nerve attack, she broke it, hitting his forearm before the last blow and backed away, focusing again. He tried one more time, but she reacted with a hypnotizing series of moves even faster and tried to punch him. He caught her arm and managed to move her leg and knocked her over. She fell and he pressed her back to immobilize her on the ground. She struggled to push him away, what was too difficult, considering the male's weight and height, for he was bigger even than her.

"What are you trying to provoke me to?" He asked, trying hard to make it impossible to move to the younger panda. She only chuckled into the ground in answer... he didn't want to believe why that situation was so funny to her.

"Give up your chivalry." Zhú mocked and grinned to herself evilly. "Do it, don't stop yourself."

"Don't say that."

"I know what you did to those wolves. You _can_ kill!"

"We killed only as many as we had to!"

She started to laugh again.

It couldn't be her. It just couldn't be the same panda he had known for twenty-six years. "Why?..." He asked, sounding utterly helpless, disappointed and heartbroken. "You have here everything you need. So why?"

"Because Shan was a genius." She admitted angrily. "He made a mistake playing with your feelings, but he had a good plan how to liquidate the Emperor. I still have his documents."

"I told you to burn his things!" He shouted and sank his claws unawarely deep into the skin on her arms. "How could you ignore that?!"

She didn't answer. Her eyes shut tightly and instead of replying, she trembled and next, her body started shaking violently. The bigger warrior noticed that Zhú couldn't stop her convulsion. He let go of her arms, and knelt down beside her. He thought he must have hit her in some nerve and she was probably in great pain now. "Zhú?..." The master asked, touching her arm, but she didn't respond. He rolled her gently onto her back and laid her head on his paw. She couldn't stop shaking uncontrollably and it shocked him. He didn't want to inflict such pain on her. He would never punish her like that. He didn't want her to suffer _that_ much. "Zhú, it's OK.." He said softly, stroking her arm and trying to calm her. "Breathe.." Maybe she was so scared by his reaction to her disobedience, he didn't know.

Her teeth were clenched so hard that even if she could hear him, she wouldn't be able to speak. And after a few last despairing spasms, the seizure ceased and she slowly stopped shaking, but a moment later... she also stopped breathing, going completely limp.

_God..._ The older panda thought in utter shock, staring with tears in his eyes at the female's body lying on the ground motionless.

Master Heng's hands started to tremble as paralysed with horror, he was looking at his 'sister', who was lying with her head still on his hand, not showing any signs of life. _I didn't want it..._ He thought, feeling his heart shatter into a thousand pieces and two tears escaped his eyes. He shook her by the arm gently in despair, not knowing what to say.

He killed her.

He killed his best student.


	4. Chapter 4

**(A.N.) I wanted to write some explanation to you, but... well, never mind. Here's the next part of Po's father's fight with his best panda student.**

**I don't own any of KFP characters or locations. I own only the OCs.**

* * *

The panda's vision blurred. In his memory, he saw those years they had spent training together, those moments when he had managed to make the traumatized girl forget the past and smile at least for a short moment. What happened to the cool, calm mountain river that she turned into a raging avalanche? _Zhú, please... NO!_

Then she suddenly breathed in air and trying to stop her dizziness, she rolled out of his arms and leaned on her hands, slowly lifting herself off the ground. She couldn't move her head too much, trying hard to get rid of the confusion for a moment. That made him shake his head and wake up from his stupefaction. He exhaled with relief, seeing her regain consciousness. Everything she had said before returned to him now and he couldn't wrap his head around that all. "What happened that you hate me so much?.." He asked heartbroken, trying not to piss her off again, but he... pulled himself away immediately when he heard her angry, almost feline-like growl.

He stared at her stunned again as she turned to him, entering her lowest fighting stance, and snarling furiously. He quickly got to his feet and stood back, remembering at the same time that he could fall. The older panda's heart dropped to the ground when he realised that Zhú had completely lost control over the wild part of her nature... and feeling the suffering radiating from her... he understood that she might have lost her senses. He took a step back when she moved forward. To hell with their ranks, he had never seen a younger female attacking an older, bigger male in such a way and for no reason. When did she become so suicidal? He was her teacher, how could he miss that something wrong was happening to her? "I won't fight you like that." He said, begging her in his thoughts to stop. He couldn't believe what she was inviting him to do. "Not you."

She didn't react like a civilized panda but like a savage, not stopping glaring at him. Her fur bristled when she snarled angrily in rage, baring her fangs, sticking her claws into the ground, completely ignoring the fact that her right paw was wounded, and making him step back again. Shocked by her aggression, Master Heng understood that for some reasons, Zhú really was going to kill him. He realised that if he let her do that... he would put many other people in danger. Maybe even the pandas. Hoping that she would give up, he leaned down and entered his low fighting stance too.

A slight look of doubt appeared in her eyes for a second, but she flinched as if she had heard a lash cracking somewhere behind her.

He didn't have much time to think how to stop her. She suddenly charged at him at the highest speed, forcing the other panda to copy her attack in the last second like a reflection in a mirror, and they got into probably the most ferocious fight in their lives.

Swiftness against strength.

To say that he didn't expect such madness would be an understatement. They collided violently, and she set upon him like an infuriated panda mother trying to protect her cubs, having no other choice. Flooding him with seemingly chaotic blows and cuts in blind rage, she tried to ram him down and push him into the chasm. Neither leaving him any chance for defense, nor waiting for him to fight back.

* * *

"Something happened." Ming stated disturbingly, lifting her face off her arms resting on the edge of the table in the kitchen. She and her friends were still sitting at the table, bored completely after tidying the place.

Deshi, who had even managed to fall asleep again, woke up and looked around the others unconsciously. "Ming, please.." Chen spoke, looking at his wife anxious. "You're making yourself nervous again. He's Master Heng, and he's with Zhú now, what could happen?"

"It's been over an hour.." Tai said, scratching his chin and thinking of something intensely.

The wolf cleared his throat in the silence. "Ekrrhm.. It's spring..." He said unsurely. "Maybe we shouldn't be worried so much?..."

"What do you mean?" The girl asked confused and the three pandas looked at him questioningly. Did the wolf know about some special conditions prevailing in mountains during this particular season? Something about snow or flora?

"You know..." The wolf began a bit surprised that they hadn't guessed yet, although they knew the pandas' way of life better. "He's the main master in the village and at the Tea Palace. She's sort of a.. queen bee of the academy..." Deshi giggled nervously and started to sweat when he saw their dumbfounded looks aimed at him. "Maybe they're just..." He showed them a very meaningful sign with his fingers.

"Oh, gods! Stop it!" Chen cried, covering his eyes with his paws. "You've fried my brain!" Tai and Ming facepalmed at the same time, but after a moment... they had to stop themselves from grinning when they both thought at the same time that maybe the wolf's idea wasn't so impossible...

* * *

Master Heng tried hard to imagine that he was fighting some male, what of course didn't work. He left a long, red scratch on Zhú's forearm, deflecting another one of her blows and using the force of all his weight, he pushed her away hard, trying to increase the distance between him and the chasm. She landed on the ground not far from him, rolled and entered her fighting stance immediately. She snarled in rage and though he was still shocked and heartbroken by what Zhú was doing, he wondered where she had got so much energy, because although he was already exhausted and was breathing hard, she seemed to be even more angry and determined. _I should have eaten that breakfast.._ He couldn't let her try another charge, so because he wasn't able to become faster than her, if it was the only way to stop her... he understood that he had to make her lose consciousness. Now.

Not wasting more time, he ran up to her on all fours and collided with her again. She instantly lifted her paws bravely and tried to fight back, but the force of the bigger bear's blows were too strong, they forced her to draw back again and again. It was mentally painful to the great master to look as one of his friends was taking a serious pounding, but little did he know why. After a dozen or so hits to the female's body, when she could barely stand, still trying hard to protect the nerves in her chest, and he was sure that she was exhausted and it was enough for her, he finished his attack by throwing the female hard onto the ground and pressed her throat with his paw to immobilize her. Zhú's eyes opened immediately when she felt that touch, she suspected another nerve attack. She escaped his grip and rolled away quickly, avoiding his claws, which hit the ground instead of her chest.

That. hurt.

Master Heng looked surprised at the panda, who had been almost unable to stay conscious a few seconds before. _How?..._ He scolded himself in his thought when he guessed; Zhú, as a possessor of very negative energy, had managed to fool him and regain her strength by submitting to his blows and stealing his opposite, positive energy. He was getting really angry with that situation, especially when he saw the female's evil grin and her glare trying to burn him alive when she regained her wild panda fighting stance. _Oh no._ He thought, bracing himself for another attack. She was going to do that again.

And she charged again, he got into his fighting stance and reached out his hands in the last moment to stop her. Though he was sure that she would not manage to make him fall, she had gathered enough momentum. She jumped and slammed her paws into his collarbones, knocking him over and he landed heavily onto his back. When he realised what was happening, the female was already sitting on him and she pressed his arms to the ground. Realising that he was lying in a very adverse position, he immediately lifted his arms, but Zhú didn't let go, and she managed to press his wrists firmly to the ground again.

"Aaahh, what _a pity_ that I cannot have you in my ranks..." She said with sincere regret in her tone, although it was visible that the whole situation was amusing to her as she was looking him in the eyes. He was confused by that statement, but his eyes widened in shock when she leaned down and left a gentle kiss on his lips.

His muscles relaxed as if time had stopped for a moment in that sudden silence.

"How many?.." He asked when she looked down at him again.

"Everyone." She said with an ominous smile. "The Army is mine."

He knew. He finally realised what had happened. Those feelings he could neither understand nor forget. "It was you..." Master Heng spoke, looking at her unbelievingly. "YOU destroyed the Perfect Balance in the academy."

"No." She grinned in answer. "I'm trying to create _the real_ Perfect Balance."

His fingers twitched when he thought of the Palace and his students. They didn't know they were in grave danger. They would have no chances fighting the whole army of several dozen mad pandas and their 'mother'. Chen, Ming and Tai Lung would never join Zhú's army. And Deshi... Deshi was a wolf. She was surely going to kill them all. But what about... Po? He was probably another one of her targets. Now he knew why she had recruited so many students and as she had admitted, they were already infected with her ideas. He had felt that something was wrong! Now he knew why she had dragged him so far away from the Palace. She had planned that all to either convince him to join her or kill him. She planned _everything_.

And although he still couldn't recognize the real Master Zhú in the person of that panda, everything she had done enraged him profoundly.

The male took advantage of her temporal distraction, he freed his arms in one second and delivered a strong blow with his open paw to her chest. The hit knocked the wind out of her and when he was getting to his feet, she drew back quickly far enough, knowing that he would try to overpower her now. The female's fur bristled and she let out a loud menacing snarl, getting into her wild fighting stance when she realised that she was in danger. He was too far from the edge. It was enough of the game.

She was fast; he got into his low fighting stance too, but before he decided what to do, she was already prepared. The aura of hellish fury around her grew stronger and he managed to see in her eyes that although he was heavier than her, she was going to perform the wild panda signature move.

Zhú didn't control herself anymore. She charged at him again like a huge snowball rolling down a hill and jumped, turning herself in the last moment to ram into the other panda and strike him down with her back only to push him off the cliff.

Although her speed was impressive, the older master focused enough. The male's pupils constricted and he managed to dodge the black and white hurricane in the last second. When she realised that she had missed, it was too late; the female rolled to stop herself, but she fell off the cliff... catching the edge with her left paw and leaving a long mark on the stone with her claws.

* * *

After a few seconds, when she was gripping the stone tightly, she opened her eyes and realised that she was hanging above the chasm and she tried to catch the edge of the cliff with her right paw, but it hurt too much. She looked down and felt horror as if she had just realised where they were and that she couldn't fly.

"Zhú, give me your hand!" She heard Master Heng's voice as he rushed towards her, knowing that she would not get back onto the cliff by herself with one wounded paw. He fell to his knees and grabbed her left paw. He lay down on the ground and slowly, using all his might, he pulled her to himself, catching the ground with the other hand. That was difficult because she was very heavy, but he would never leave her there, even after what she was going to do. No matter what the biggest reason of her frenzy was, her unrequited love or her hate for the wolves.

She looked into the chasm again and she hid her evil grin, leaning her face against the stony wall. _Guess who will fall into there now?.._

He pulled himself aside to make more room for her and she crawled on the cliff. He let go of her and they leaned on their hands, panting heavily on the cold ground. They were both exhausted, they were both trembling, but she was safe. A slight, almost invisible grin flashed across her face. Those were just fractions of a second. Something he wouldn't be able to use.

She was about to turn and push him off the cliff when suddenly she felt the older panda's paw grab her neck and pin her to the ground. She quickly lifted her arms, but before she could do anything, his claws hit the secret points on her chest in a blink of an eye and with deadly precision.

She was shocked. Her arms stopped obeying and fell on the ground limply. Something what felt like cold metal strings wrapped around her chest and the rest of her body. She tried hard, but she couldn't move. Her fingers, legs, arms, head, her whole body was now like a stone. Although her heart was hammering with fear, Zhú's vision faded to black. She was losing consciousness, while the master was still alive. She couldn't believe it. He was faster.

She lost.


End file.
